Practicing Jabs and Rear crosses

My sparring partner has always said he needed to get his fistwork right because although his kicks own mine, my punching and upper body defence is better than his. But now he's out of action (cracked hip) and I want some other way to practice straight punching (apart from shadowsparring). Any ideas?

Do people use wristbands while they're shadowsparring? I saw some (wristbands) at a shop today.

oh, oh, also, they offer punches in "hooked" varieties. I am not sure of what they are called in boxing terminology, but these "hooked" punches involve throwing, for example, a left in a "hooking" sort of manner. As opposed to straight. Many people use such "hooked" punches in combination with the straight ones.

I have also heard rumors that, occasionally, people will punch in a way that seems to almost cut upwards. Again, I am unsure of the terminology, but such a punch might be used by a person to hit another person in the jaw.